


Parents Day

by grogudjarin



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Daddy Issues, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Jedi Training (Star Wars), ManDadlorian, Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, The Mandalorian (TV) Season 2, The Mandalorian (TV) Spoilers, din is such a needy overprotective dad, grogu is lowkey embarrassed, luke runs out of patience lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:22:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28247583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grogudjarin/pseuds/grogudjarin
Summary: "For the first time in almost two years, Din Djarin was laying eyes upon his son. He was free to pick him up and take him in his arms, stroke his little green head and press his lips to his boy’s wrinkled forehead."It's Parents Day at Luke's Jedi training school and, after two years, Din finally gets to keep his promise to his son.
Relationships: Din Djarin & Grogu | Baby Yoda, Din Djarin/Grogu | Baby Yoda, Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, R2-D2 & Luke Skywalker
Comments: 26
Kudos: 652





	Parents Day

In the week or so since the hologram of the Jedi - who had taken Grogu from Moff Gideon’s cruiser all that time ago - had been received by Din on his ship, all the Mandalorian had been able to think about was reuniting with his boy. There was so much for the two of them to catch up on, and Din had so many questions to ask his son. He had barely been able to sleep, or eat, and had neglected his duties towards his people. He felt guilty that he was leaving for an entire day to spend time with Grogu, but Sabine Wren, a close friend, had vowed to ensure things kept running smoothly. He was still thankful to the Jedi he had encountered on Corvus for introducing the two of them.

But the day had finally dawned, and soon he would be back with his son. It was the sole day of the year where Padawans were permitted to receive a visit from their families. Din had travelled in his new ship to the planet which lay in the outer rim in order to pay a visit to his boy. It was one of the most important days of the one-time bounty hunter’s life, and he was filled with a mix of nerves and excitement at the prospect of seeing Grogu once more. Besides, he had something very important to return to him.

Dawn had barely broken over the small planet with vast oceans and rocky mountains when the ship touched down. The Padawans were lined up outside the simple, yet well-furnished wooden building where they underwent their training alongside their Master, as they awaited the arrival of their families. The young children craned their necks, eyes wide in excitement as they waited to see the owner of the ship.

The smallest, and only non-human Padawan, cooed in delight when he saw his Dad walking across the field towards him, silver cape flapping in the wind behind him. In light of his new role, the Beskar armour was now rarely worn except in times of combat, and the long brown boots and large silver belt which lay across Din’s midriff was far more fitting for someone of his status.

“Duke Djarin, you are earlier than we were expecting.” The Jedi Master smiled. He should have known the Mandalorian better, nothing was more important to him than his son. The Mandalorian did not respond to the Jedi, too preoccupied with the sight that lay before him. 

For the first time in almost two years, Din Djarin was laying eyes upon his son. He was free to pick him up and take him in his arms, stroke his little green head and press his lips to his boy’s wrinkled forehead. Grogu’s physical appearance had not changed much, but the Mandalorian noted, with a lump in his throat, that his son had finally been dressed in some new clothes. It was a reminder that he was truly gone from Din’s life. The brown tunic Grogu had worn throughout their time together was gone, instead the young Jedi-in-training wore white robes with a brown belt. Din noted with a smirk that he could see his son’s feet, a paler green than the lush grass they stood on, but they were just as adorably chunky as his hands.

The child snuggled into Din’s chest, cooing in delight as the Mandalorian cradled him in his arms: “I missed you, Kid.” Din choked out, voice thick with the emotion and the time that had passed since the two had last been together.

After taking a few moments to savour the moment, the Jedi broke the silence to introduce himself.

“Duke Djarin, I’m Luke Skywalker. Master Skywalker to the young ones, and this is the building where I have been training your boy for the past couple years.”

Din didn’t ask how the Jedi knew his new title, he just accepted that the Jedi probably had a pretty good idea of what was happening within the Galaxy. And, indeed, his ascension to the position he now held had been relatively big news. But the name Skywalker sounded familiar to him somehow. He couldn’t place where he’d heard it before, but something about the way the man standing in front of him who was caring for his son carried himself, made him suspect that he was someone of great importance.

“Your son is extremely strong with the force. He can be stubborn and easily frustrated at times,” - a notion that Grogu apparently resented, given the grunts he made - “But he will make a fine Jedi. I am pleased with his progress, and you should be very proud of him.”

Din gazed down at Grogu, allowing the Jedi’s words to sink in, “I’ve always been proud of him.” The child cooed in response,and stared at his Father with his big brown eyes.

“Grogu is communicating how much he missed you.” Luke told the Mandalorian. “I felt it was best to wait this long before reuniting you, since his attachment to you was so strong. But I sense that it still is, and it probably always will be. That doesn’t worry me, once he has completed his training he will have a better grasp of his powers.”

Din nodded. He never wanted to be a barrier to the kid’s success, and was relieved to hear that their bond would not be a detriment to Grogu. It certainly had not been to Din. It had changed his life in more ways than he could ever have imagined.

And then, the questions began. Master Skywalker was frequently well-prepared for the slew of questions that parents usually sent his way. But Din Djarin had a vested interest in many more areas of his son’s progress than most families.

“Have you been eating good, you little womp rat? Been catching any frogs and eating any eggs while you’ve been here, hey?” Din joked with his son, stroking his forehead affectionately.

Then the Mandalorian turned to the Jedi, a serious look descending across his features, “But seriously, Master Skywalker, he  _ has _ been well fed?”

Luke smirked. He had encountered all kinds of parents over the years, some pushy, some clingy. He could usually tell the sort they were on sight. But Din Djarin, with his formidable reputation throughout the galaxy, presented a somewhat amusing contradiction. The man who stood before him was a protective, proud parent just like anyone else, titles aside.

“Of course, Duke Djarin. We have help from the local people here who help with the upkeep of the grounds and within the building itself. Grogu has quite the appetite, particularly after he has used his powers. Don’t worry for him.”

The Mandalorian seemed satisfied with that answer, but he wasn’t done questioning the Jedi yet. There were many months of the kid’s life to catch up on, and next Din wanted to know how Grogu had been getting along socially. He was unsure how much his son had been around other people his age, save for the time they had spent at the settlement on Sorgan, and Din had worried for him in that sense.

“Well, at first there were some difficulties. Grogu is the only non-human padawan, and the four other young ones we have here were not accustomed to someone different than them,” Master Skywalker explained, “But I told them to treat everyone with respect, even if they look or sound different to them. Kindness goes a long way in the galaxy, and there’s no good using the force if you cannot use it for good.”

Din smiled at that. Master Skywalker seemed like a good man, and he trusted him to raise his son correctly.

“Grogu wasn’t a pushover though, he would fight back sometimes. But we have managed to put a stop to that now, and the Padawans get on well. They often play in the fields out here after training.”

Luke gestured to the landscape which surrounded them, and it was beautiful. Lush green hills as far as the eye could see in one direction, and fields which eventually led to the cliffs which overlooked the sea in the other. This was a fine place for his son to grow up.

By now, the sun had fully risen, and other parents had started to arrive at the training centre. They were hanging around with their sons, waiting patiently for the chance to speak to their children’s Master. But Master Skywalker could not seem to stop being interrogated by Grogu’s Father.

Din had once tried to educate himself about the ways of the Jedi after Grogu had left, speaking to acquaintances and even doing research in the library. He wanted to be there should his son ever need him. But some of the more technical terms still slipped his mind.

“Are his powers… you know… really good?” Din asked Luke.

“Yes, Duke Djarin. He is strong with the Force, which gives him his powers. I am pleased with his progress. If he continues to stay disciplined, he will complete his training before too long.”

“That’s my boy!” Din exclaimed, grinning at his son, who couldn’t peel his eyes away from his Father’s face. 

For so long, he had never known him as anything more than the shiny Beskar helmet which he wore. But when faced with the parting of ways on Moff Gideon’s cruiser, Din had wasted no time in removing his helmet, and showing his boy his face, regardless of the consequences, so Grogu could touch his cheek with his chubby green hand. Grogu had held that face in his mind so many times over the past two years, when things were difficult he knew his Dad would always be proud of him.

Din still had questions about the ways of the Jedi. For a man of such reputation, he was like a child himself, excitedly firing off his innermost curiosities towards his son and his son’s Master. Gone was the mask of a tough warrior, which was fitting since he seldom wore the helmet anymore. 

“Did you get to use your laser sword yet?” Din asked, and Grogu grunted a response.

The Jedi master smirked at that. It reminded him of his own ignorance of the ways of the Jedi before his meeting with Ben Kenobi in his hut on Tatooine all those years ago.

“Grogu has had some experience with his lightsaber, but training that particular aspect is a perilous endeavour, and must be done slowly and with great care. I’m sure you can understand its power, being the custodian of the Darksaber yourself.” Master Skywalker responded.

Din opened his mouth to ask another question, but before he could get the words out, Master Skywalker stopped him.

“Duke Djarin, there are other families here who I’m sure will have questions about their children too. I’m sure Grogu wants to spend some time alone with you, and I think he’s keen to show you to his room.”

With that, his son’s Master, clad in his high black boots and black robes headed off to talk to the other parents that had assembled. Din asked Grogu if he wanted to show him his room, and the child grunted happily in response. Din placed him down gently onto the grass, and Grogu led the way.

After being parted for so long, Din had forgotten how slowly his son moved, due to his small stature. But Din was patient with the child. He was too pleased to be back in his company to care too much.

Din wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when it came to his son’s bedroom. He hoped it would be big enough for the child, before he realised with a smirk that even the smallest place would probably feel palatial to Grogu. The inside of the training centre was relatively modest, the main part of the building was a large wooden hall with several doors leading to other parts of the centre. Grogu shuffled across the wooden boards, he seemed much more mobile now he had proper robes as opposed to the brown tunic he had worn, and Din fretted that perhaps he should have got his son a proper outfit sooner. 

It was certainly endearing that Din could see his son’s feet as he made his way across the floor towards his bedroom. The corridor itself had light brown wooden boards, and painted white walls. The names of each of the Padawans were displayed on the brown doors, and Grogu was in the third room along the corridor, out of a total of five. 

Grogu’s room was rectangular shaped and pretty bare, though Din was pleased to see how tidy his son kept it. It had the same wall and flooring as the corridor outside, but there was a small square window on the far wall. For a second, Din was confused where his son slept, before his eyes were drawn to what was located under the window.

There was a small hammock strung between the two long walls, it hung underneath the window opposite the door.

“That’s how you used to sleep when we were together, remember kid.” Din said proudly. Grogu stared at him in response. Indeed, it was just like the one his son had previously occupied on the Razor Crest. It was tiny, but just the right size for Grogu. Din wondered if it was a comfort thing, something he had requested since it reminded him of the time he spent on the ship with his Dad, having many adventures throughout the galaxy.

Din cast his eyes around the rest of the room. There was a small cupboard which contained Grogu’s clothes, but given the fact his training was not yet complete there was not much more. He was still far too untrained to have his own lightsaber.

But the Mandalorian’s eyes were drawn to a peculiar shaped object that was casting a long shadow across the painted white walls from the sunlight that streamed in through the window. Something was glinting as the light hit it. Din took a sharp intake of breath as he registered what it was.

It was his Mythosaur necklace.

“He was very attached to that object, and it was challenging getting him to part with it once he was required to wear the correct uniform. Grogu kicked up quite the fuss.” A voice said. 

Luke stepped into the room, and Din turned to face him, his eyes still cloudy with tears.

“Sorry to intrude, but I finished speaking with the other parents and they’re spending time with their children. But none of them have the same…” Luke looked around the room, choosing his words carefully, “Barrier in regards to communication that you and Grogu do. I hope you don’t take offence to that, I know you have a bond that goes beyond words. But if you would like me to tell you some of what is on his mind, I will happily do that.”

Din wasn’t sure how to respond, in a way he had so much he wanted to say to his son, but in the moment he felt as though someone had grabbed him by the throat and was preventing him from getting any words out.

“Grogu wanted to know if it was okay that he still has your necklace.” Luke said, quietly.

“Of course, of course it is, kid.” Din looked down at his son, who had made his way over to his Father’s leg and was clutching it in his version of a hug. “I gave it to you, it will always be yours.”

Din paused and closed his eyes, inhaling deeply before he uttered his next question. It was something he was unsure if he was prepared for the answer, but it was nonetheless important to him, and he would regret it if he didn’t take this opportunity to ask this burning question.

“Does… does he think of me often? You know… does he remember the time we spent together?” Din said, his voice shaky.

Grogu grunted to Luke in response, his way of communicating that only those strong with the Force could understand.

“Well, I can tell you from my perspective firstly. When Grogu first came here, he was quiet and withdrawn. He was very upset to have left you behind. In fact the only thing that could really bring him out of that was a droid of mine. He missed you terribly. But it is something he has learnt to cope with, and something that any Jedi most conquer if they are to succeed and complete their training.” Luke paused, before he went onto outline to Din what his son had communicated to the Jedi, “He said the time he spent with you was the happiest of his life, Grogu never felt safer or more protected than when he was with you. You were willing to lay your life down for him, multiple times, and do whatever it took to protect him. He had been handed around to various individuals and organisations before he met you, some treated him well but others did not see him as a person with feelings. But you did. He wants you to know that he has never forgotten that, and never will, and it is something that he clings to during the hardest times here.”

Din could barely even see his son through the tears that had appeared in his eyes. Grogu had remained at his feet, his little green hands firmly attached to his Father’s shin.

“Grogu wants to succeed here, and complete his training, and he hopes one day to be able to use his powers to repay you.”

Din lost it at that, and he was not ashamed to weep quietly in front of both the Jedi and his son. Luke turned to leave the room, sensing the need for some privacy from the Father and Son.

“I hope you two will join us for food outside in a few minutes. It will be a chance to meet Grogu’s friends and their parents. I’ll see you out there.” 

And he was gone.

Din bent down and took his son in his arms, tears still trickling down his cheeks. He bent down and kissed his forehead gently, adding softly “I love you so much, son.”

* 

After the parents and children had shared lunch in the field outside - Grogu had finished his portion, and then promptly hoovered up anyone and everyone’s leftovers - there was another important individual Grogu wanted to introduce his Father to.

The silver and blue droid beeped happily when it got to meet the famous Din Djarin. R2-D2 had been in the company of many remarkable people throughout his existence, but finally meeting the Father he had heard so many good stories about from Grogu was as exciting a prospect as any of them.

Din, of course, could not understand the droid’s communications, but he sensed that the droid meant a lot to his son, and he thanked the charming little machine for being a good friend to him. They had crossed paths previously on Moff Gideon’s cruiser as Luke had arrived to collect the child, but Din had been preoccupied with other things then, and the droid had not understood the significance of the man that stood in front of him.

After the meeting with Artoo, it was time for Din to take a break from questioning others and be grilled by someone else: Grogu’s classmates.

The Padawans wanted to know how much what they had heard about Grogu’s father was really true. Grogu had told them he was strong enough to take on many men at once, and had armour that could protect him from blaster shots. But most of all, Grogu told them about how he would take him in his arms when riding a jetpack, or hide him in satchel when confronting enemies, or the time he got to ride on a sandspeeder on Tatooine. 

A chorus of tiny voices began questioning the Father of their smallest classmate:

“Is it true you killed fifty Stormtrropers at once?”

“Do you really have pure Beskar armour?”

“Are you actually the owner of the Darksaber?”

“Grogu told us all about how his Dad is the King of the Mandalorians, is that true? Are you really a King?”

Din laughed and responded to as many of the questions as he could, omitting some of the finer details. He never particularly enjoyed people looking up to him or praising him, but something about the fact he knew this would make his son so much cooler in front of his peers, made Din’s chest swell with pride.

But children have a notoriously short attention span, and the Padawans were no different. Before long, they lost interest in Din and began to play in the fields with each other. Grogu was small, and short, but it made him happy to see that the other children still included his boy. And, of course, his penchant for eating all kinds of creepy crawlies deeply amused them, unlike the children on Sorgan.

That left Din with the parents, who weren’t sure how to interact with Din, given the stories they had overheard. Clearly, based on their appearances, they were the biological parents of their children, and Din felt somewhat self-conscious that he and Grogu’s relationship was the exception here. One of the Fathers, a man with short blond hair and kind green eyes, asked him how the two of them had come to know each other.

Din wasn’t sure if the parents were a little impressed or scared by the fact that he was a Bounty Hunter in a past life, and that he had been sent to kill the child that he had soon formed an incredible bond with. They all laughed out loud when they heard that the only information he had been given by The Client - aside from coordinates - was that The Asset was fifty years old. Grogu’s wrinkled head and white hairs were certainly the only part of his physical appearance that gave a small clue to his true age.

But he was saved from a somewhat awkward interaction as Master Skywalker approached him.

“Would you like to go for a walk, Duke Djarin?”

Din agreed, and the two of them set out across the field where the children were playing, keeping to the edges so as not to disturb the Padawans. At first the two walked at a comfortable, yet polite distance in complete silence. Din was unsure of why the Jedi had wanted to speak to him, so specifically. Yet once they had gotten out of earshot of the other parents, Luke began to speak.

“I wanted to let you know, Duke Djarin, that training Grogu has not always been straightforward for me, in a way like no other for the other Padawans. I felt immense pressure to care for, and protect one as special as he is. He is the same kind as an incredibly wise and powerful Master that I was one trained by. And I feel as though I have some debt to repay there.”

Din nodded, thoughtfully. After seeing how the Jedi had taken out multiple Darktroopers as though they were nothing, Din was surprised that someone so powerful and deadly could feel any kind of weakness.

“His attachment to you had made him vulnerable to the more negative emotions we experience, and I was wary of that. As I’m sure you can appreciate, that is not the Jedi way.” Luke continued, “Combined with the social isolation Grogu was experiencing at the beginning, there were some incidents of him using his powers against others, and I was uncertain whether I would be able to continue with his training.”

“Oh.” Din said, quietly, “I wasn’t aware.”

“That has been resolved now. I realised that me and Grogu are more alike than I initially believed. He had resentment that he was separated from his Father, just as I had attachment and anger issues in that sense. When I was a young, lonely boy on Tatooine, I would fantasise about my Father and the relationship we would have had, just as Grogu would imagine being with you after he first arrived here. And, at many times I was ashamed of my sensitivity to the Force and seen as an outcast from my peers, just as Grogu had to hide to survive, and found it difficult to fit in due to the fact he is so different from the others.”

Luke stopped walking, and turned to face Din, the two men held each other’s gaze as Luke finished off his speech of sorts:

“I just wanted to inform you how much pride I have had in training him, and seeing him transform from an outcast who was hesitant to use his powers, into a Padawan that is confident and sociable. Once again, you should be very proud of your boy. One day, you will be together again. That is what he wants, I can sense it.”

Din felt a lump in his throat, out of pride and emotion. At once, he wanted to open up, to tell the Jedi that he too harboured strong emotions and resentment towards those that had killed his parents and orphaned him. That Din himself had always felt as an outcast even from Mandalorians, before he abandoned some of the more controlling parts of his creed and appreciated that being a Mandalorian was more than just a set of rules. But today was about Grogu, and the Mandalorian hoped that one day there would be an opportunity to speak at greater length with the Jedi.

*

As the day began to turn to night, Din took his son on a walk towards the ocean. Although there had not been a strict time limit imposed on the end of the day, it had begun at dawn and Din felt sundown was probably when the Padawans would have to return to the training centre. 

After they reached a cliff overlooking the water, Din sat down, holding Grogu tightly in his lap. His son wrapped his entire hand around one of Din’s fingers, no longer gloved as part of his armour. It was the first time they had held hands in this way. The sky turned a brilliant orange and red as the sun set and it was truly beautiful. Yet it was bittersweet. Din knew that he would soon have to say goodbye to his son and the two of them would part ways again. He hoped this time he would not get as misty-eyed as he had last time on Moff Gideon’s cruiser, but he knew this would never get any easier.

“Wherever I go, he goes,” was now a distant memory, and though Din knew this was the way it had to be, he was nonetheless heartbroken at the thought of parting ways with his boy.

Although Din now knew his son’s real name, he couldn’t resist referring to him as he always had: “Kid, before I go. I have something to give you.”

Grogu’s breathing increased in volume out of excitement, and he turned his head to stare into his Dad’s brown eyes with his own big brown eyes.

“I know I always used to get annoyed at you for playing with this, and, well, it’s the last part of my ship that I have. But it was always your thing. It belongs to you, Grogu.”

Grogu whined in delight, both at his Dad using his real name, and at being reunited with his favourite toy. The small child clutched the silver ball in his chubby green hands, mesmerised by it. It was less shiny than he remembered, but that was to be expected given what it had been through.

And then, after spending a few moments holding the Razor Crest’s gear shift knob in his hands, the child extended his hands towards his Father, offering it back to him. Although they could not understand each other in words, looking down at his son’s big brown eyes, Din knew what his son was saying.

The Mandalorian took the small silver object from his son’s hands, feeling a lump form in his throat and tears water in his eyes, threatening to spill down his cheeks. 

_ He wants me to keep it, _

Din realised, and as if in confirmation, Grogu nodded.

If he could speak, Grogu would have told him that he had so much fun playing with the other children here that he had no need for a toy, and he knew what it meant to his Father. He had kept the Mythosaur necklace, he was happy for his Dad to keep something of his. But really, the child could never know the true extent of what that small silver sphere meant. His childlike innocence during the first time he had played with it in the Razor Crest had inspired Din to return and save him from certain death at the hands of The Client. Without it, neither of them would be sitting there at that moment.

But they were, and Din savoured the last few minutes he would spend with his son. He had kept his promise. They had seen each other again. And Din could return to his planet safe in the knowledge that the special bond he shared with his son had not been disrupted by their separation, or by the amount of time that had passed. 

Grogu would always be Din’s son, and Din Djarin would always be his Father. It was a fact as certain as the binary suns setting over Tatooine each night.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is dedicated to Aly (@skywalkermyth) on Twitter, I hope I did Luke justice, bud <3
> 
> You can find me on Twitter at @grogulovebot!


End file.
